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A SIMPLE GIFT
The Shakers Crafted An
Agricultural Archetype with the Round Barn
By Jennifer Trainer Thompson,
The Round Stone Barn
at the height of summer,
Director, Hancock Shaker Village
photo: Hancock Shaker Village
he Shakers are one of The Construction of the
the most intriguing Round Stone Barn
Tsocial and religious Arguably the most magnificent building that the Shakers
movements in American of Hancock, Massachusetts, ever erected, the Round Stone
history. As the Shakers grew Barn is the first and only Shaker barn
in influence and numbers in of its kind. All its limestone was
the 19th century, they quarried on the property and its
challenged the existing social circular design proved to be a model of
and religious structure and efficiency. Because of its unique
economic order of the new design, the Barn was a curiosity to both
nation and eventually developed an alternative 1826 stone archway on the the Shakers and “the world’s people,”
lifestyle based on their religious beliefs. The Round Stone Barn as outsiders were called. Farmers and
Shakers have made important contributions to photo: Hancock Shaker Village progressive neighbors such as
American culture in the areas of art and design, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman
music, science, architecture, craftsmanship, business, education, Melville staged a footrace inside the
government, medicine, agriculture, and commerce. structure in 1851.
Circles were important to the Shakers – they danced in circles, The elegant beauty of its simple
worshipped in circles, even built a circular barn. When the round barn form with careful detailing to support
was constructed in 1826, the idea was so controversial that the entire its economy of function typifies
community had to vote on it. Shaker design, which remains a lasting
And yet the form has endured, a beloved symbol of beauty and legacy today.
efficiency, with several hundred examples still in existence.
Woodcut showing a view of Hancock Shaker Village founded in 1790 A Stereo view of the Round-Stone-Barn,
photo: Hancock Shaker Village
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